Newsletter Message, September, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Trinity is a place to grow. Are you growing and I don't mean your waistline? Included in the newsletter is a brochure of Bible Studies and book discussion groups and small groups that I believe the Spirit will bless you with and cause you to grow. Please prayfully consider becoming an active growing part of His church. But, you might say, I am already too busy! I don't have time. God loves us unconditionally but He also sets the example to grow spiritually while He walked among us.

Luke 5:15 "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."
Mark 6 "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Luke 6 "Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."
Matthew 14 "When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place."

I would like to share some quotes about an unhurried life the practice of slowing.

"Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart." John Ortberg.

"We must eliminate hurry from our lives. This does not mean we will never be busy. Jesus often had much to do, but He never did it in a way that severed the life-giving connection between Him and His Father, He never did it in a way that interfered with His ability to give love when love was called for, He observed a regular practice of withdrawing from activity for the sake of solitude and prayer. Jesus was often busy but never hurried."

"Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and a place for God and Him alone. If we really believe that God exists but also that He is actively present in our lives -- healing, teaching, guiding -- we need to set a time and space to give Him our undivided attention. Jesus says, 'Go to your private room and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place.' Matthew 6:6

"Let this be for you an encouragement, that with all diligence and earnestness it may become your habit to pray. For next to the preaching of the Gospel, in which God speaks with us and gives us all His grace and blessings, the highest and foremost work we can do is to speak with Him in prayer and receive from Him what He gives us. We have this great need of prayer, for by it, we are truly able to keep what we have, to defend it against our enemies -- the devil and the world. By our prayer it becomes our comfort, strength, and consolation, as well as our protection against all enemies and our victory over them." Martin Luther

In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Terry Strom